In connection with the fabrication of various different structures, substrates, or structural workpieces, fastener-driving tools are commonly used to drive fasteners into the structures, substrates, or workpieces at predetermined locations. More particularly, it is often desired to drive fasteners into the various different structures, substrates, or workpieces at locations that are separated from each other by means of predeterminedly uniformly spaced distances or intervals. Oftentimes, however, the firing of the fastener-driving tools is performed in a solely manual firing mode as opposed to, for example, an automatic firing mode, or in other words, the operator manually controls the firing of the fastener-driving tool. Accordingly, if it is in fact desired to drive fasteners into the structures, substrates, or workpieces at locations that are separated from each other by means of predeterminedly uniformly spaced distances or intervals, then unless the operator has previously performed particular measurements, and subsequently marked the locations accordingly at which the fasteners are to be inserted into the structures, substrates, or workpieces, the fasteners will not necessarily in fact be inserted into the structures, substrates, or workpieces at locations that are predeterminedly uniformly spaced from each other, but to the contrary, the locations at which the fasteners will in fact be driven or inserted into the structures, substrates, or workpieces will only be uniformly spaced from each other in a substantially approximated manner.
In order to rectify the deficiencies of such aforenoted manually-controlled fastener-driving tools, various different mechanisms have effectively been incorporated within, or operatively associated with, the fastener-driving tools so as to effectively cause the fastener-driving tools to be automatically fired at predeterminedly controlled times which are in fact separated from each other by means of uniformly spaced time intervals. Accordingly, in turn, fasteners will be driven out from the fastener-driving tool and into the particular structures, substrates, or workpieces at locations that are separated from each other by means of predeterminedly uniformly spaced distances or intervals. Exemplary embodiments of such fastener-driving tools are disclosed, for example, within U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,156 which was issued to McAllister et al. on Mar. 4, 2003, U.S. Pat. No. 5,110,027 which issued to Burlingame on May 5, 1992, U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,307 which was issued to Hubbard et al. on Mar. 22, 1988, U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,149 which issued to Farrens et al. on Aug. 12, 1986, U.S. Pat. No. 4,523,706 which was issued to Haley on Jun. 18, 1985, U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,093 which was issued to Thueringer on Oct. 11, 1977, U.S. Pat. No. 3,992,768 which issued to De Nicola et al. on Nov. 23, 1976, U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,040 which issued to Fry on Oct. 5, 1976, U.S. Pat. No. 3,586,231 which issued to Wilson on Jun. 22, 1971, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,915,754 which issued to Wandel on Dec. 8, 1959.
Continuing further, it is noted that, in conjunction with the aforenoted prior art patents and the systems disclosed therein, most of the various different fastener-driving tools are mounted upon carriage assemblies which provide a requisite amount of stability for their respective fastener-driving tools during, for example, a fastener-driving or fastener discharge operation which would naturally include or encompass a predetermined amount of recoil. Some of the other fastener-driving tools, such as, for example, Thueringer and Wandel, comprise hand-held fastener-driving tools wherein, for example, a single camming wheel is rotatably disposed at or upon the front or forward end portion of the fastener-driving tool so as to be operatively engaged upon a guide surface of the structure, substrate, or workpiece into which fasteners from the fastener-driving tool are to driven. In addition, it is also noted that the single camming wheel is rotatably upon the front or forward end portion of the fastener-driving tool so as to be located substantially adjacent to, or within the vicinity of, the location at which the fasteners will be discharged from the fastener-driving tool by means of the fastener-driving tool driver blade mechanism when the fastener-driving tool is fired. It has been observed, however, that, with fastener-driving tools of this type, when the fastener-driving tool is in fact fired so as to discharge a fastener into a structure, substrate, or workpiece, the single camming wheel may be momentarily disengaged from the guide surface of the structure, substrate, or workpiece.
Accordingly, due to the rotational or angular momentum or inertia of the rotatably mounted camming wheel, as a result of having been rotatably moved along the guide surface of the structure, substrate, or workpiece prior to the firing of the fastener-driving tool, when the camming wheel is momentarily disengaged from the guide surface of the substrate, structure, or workpiece, the camming wheel will effectively be free to continue to rotate until it is once again engaged with the guide surface of the structure, substrate, or workpiece in preparation for a subsequent cyclical firing of the fastener-driving tool in order to drive the fasteners into the structure, substrate, or workpiece at the predetermined locations uniformly spaced apart through means of equal distances or linear lengths. However, as a result of the aforenoted continued free rotation of the camming wheel as a result of the disengagement of the same from the guide surface of the substrate, structure, or workpiece, the cam member of the camming wheel will no longer effectively be in the same position as it was prior to the disengagement of the camming wheel from the guide surface of the structure, substrate, or workpiece. Therefore, it cannot be assured that the fastener-driving tool will in fact fire and discharge fasteners at predeterminedly equidistantly spaced intervals such that the discharged fasteners will be inserted into the structure, substrate, or workpiece at locations which are equally spaced apart from each other.
Continuing still further, it is also noted that the various systems disclosed within the aforenoted prior art patents are adapted for movement along flat planar surfaces into which the fasteners are to be driven. In connection with the fabrication of various different structures, substrates, or structural workpieces, wherein, for example, the various different structures, substrates, or structural workpieces may comprise an interior corner region into which fasteners are desired to be driven so as to fixedly connect a front side wall member of, for example, a furniture cabinet, to a left side wall member of the furniture cabinet, the aforenoted prior art systems disclosed within the aforenoted prior art patents are not able to be deployed or utilized because, obviously, the various different structures comprising such prior art systems disclosed within the aforenoted prior art patents will not in fact permit such fastener-driving tools to be physically accommodated within the corner regions of the substrates, structures, or workpieces into which the fasteners are to be driven. This is similarly the case in connection with the hand-held fastener-driving tools of Thueringer or Wandel. In Thueringer, for example, it is seen that the cam wheel is rotatably disposed within a plane which is offset from, or disposed parallel to, the plane within which the driver blade is disposed. This is similarly the case for some of the embodiments of Wandel, while in accordance with another embodiment of Wandel, the camming wheel is disposed within a plane which is oriented substantially perpendicular to the plane within which the driver blade is disposed. As can readily be appreciated, none of these structural embodiments would permit these fastener-driving tools to be utilized in connection with the fixation of fasteners within corner joints of various different structures, substrates, or workpieces.
A need therefore exists in the art for a new and improved fastener-driving tool which has means incorporated thereon which renders the same uniquely able to drive fasteners into corner regions of various different structures, substrates, workpieces, or the like, which are being assembled together, and at predetermined locations which are spaced apart by means of uniformly spaced intervals or distances, and wherein such means is not substantially adversely affected by means of tool recoil inherent to the firing or discharge of the fastener-driving tool.